Kept in the Dark
by LoudAutomata16
Summary: All these years, Lucy never knew the truth; that she was adopted. As she no longer feels like she is a part of the family, it falls to Lincoln make sure she never forgets who she is...
1. Discovery

It all started with an accident…

Lucy Loud was sitting alone on the floor of the attic, as she often did in the late afternoon, with a notepad in hand and a pen in her mouth, as she read over every stanza she had written down on the yellowish paper. She was pleased with the poem itself, the dark message and morbid imagery that danced off the paper appealed to her Gothic sensibilities, but the rhyme scheme… It was an AABB form, which may have been fine for seven year old Lucy, but not for a mature eight year old like her. She needed to try something more complicated and advanced.

The AAAA rhyme scheme, on the other hand... Now THAT was the good one.

Unfortunately, she was stuck on one word; _tenebrous._ A word that meant dark and gloomy and obscure. Lucy's lips twitched in the indication of a smile as she thought of how perfect the word was, but returned to their normal state as she began to rack her mind for anything that sounded similar.

"Breathlessness… no. How about decadence? That doesn't work. Sigh," the young girl let out a verbalized sigh as her mind churned out more and more half-rhymes. Half-rhymes were useless to a true poet. Perhaps she could have thought up of more appropriate words… were it not for the large CRASH downstairs that caused the black haired girl to jump in her place.

"Sigh. What are my siblings up to now?" she muttered, as she placed her writing utensils down on the wooden floor, and slowly stood up from her sitting spot, dusting herself and her dark clothes off softly. She then walked over to the small hatch and opened it in order to gaze upon her siblings. And who else did she see than her older sister Luan and younger sister Lana standing by a broken vase. Lucy gasped as she recognized that the vase was a gift from one of her mother's old friends.

"Oh, we're in trouble," said Lana worryingly, "Mom's friend gave her that vase. She's going to be so angry at us when she finds out."

"Angry at us? Boy, I'm really _broken_ up about that. Ha ha. Geddit?" Luan joked to her sister, before following it up with, "But seriously, why would she be mad at me? You're the one who broke it."

"Nuh uh. You're the one who dared me to rush down the hall on all fours. So you made me slam my head into the stand."

"I just wanted to make a dog pun when you finished. You're the one who broke it with your giant head."

As the argument between the two sisters began to rise in intensity and anger, Lucy began to look a little worried. She glanced at each door in the hallway, hoping one of her other siblings would try to step in and resolve their fighting…

"Luan, Lana, what's going on here?"

The two looked over and saw their brother Lincoln standing at the end of the hallway, in front of his room. No doubt he wanted to seem impressive and heroic when he talked his sisters down, but unfortunately for the snow haired boy, he had forgotten to put his clothes back on after he disrobed to read his Ace Savvy comics, a fact his sisters took notice of.

"Nice underwear, Lincoln. They're almost as red as your face when the hot weather lady comes on TV," Luan said teasingly, as both her and Lana started laughing at him. Even Lucy, who was relieved to see her older brother step in, found herself chuckling quietly. And true to Luan's word, Lincoln's blushing face matched the color of his undergarments as he ducked back into his room, before coming back out with his usual orange polo shirt and blue jeans, before trying to address the situation again.

"Moving on from that embarrassment, why were you two yelling at each other?"

Lana pointed at her older sister. "She made me break the vase, and now she wants to blame it all on me."

"I didn't make you do anything."

"Luan, Lana, hold on a second," Lincoln said as he waved his hands, "No one has to get in trouble for anything. Did Mom find out that you broke it?"

Both girls shook their heads.

"Did Lola find out?"

They shook their heads again, and Lana added a little shudder as she thought about what her sister could do with that piece of blackmail.

"Ok. Just take the broken pieces over to Lisa's room and ask her to fix it for you two."

"Huh. That makes sense," Lana said as she rubbed her chin in thought, before looking up at Luan, "Why didn't we think of that?"

"I guess Lincoln just has the better gray matter. And the better red matter as well," Luan said, laughing at her great attempt to bring the subject of his underwear back up. Lincoln grimaced, and Luan shot him a small, apologetic smile. "Sorry, I had to try one last time. But thanks, Linc."

Lucy watched as her sisters gathered up the shards of the broken vase, carrying as many pieces as they could over to the young scientist's room. She smiled as she looked back to Lincoln, who stood there looking quite proud of himself. Lucy also felt a sense of pride for him, as he once again proved his greatest quality. Lucy had often observed him as a problem solver and a general organizer around the house, sometimes even more so than Lori, and often referred to him as a 'linc that kept everyone together.' It wasn't her best application of poetic skill, but it sung true to the boy's knack for solution finding.

Speaking of finding solutions…

Lucy quietly descended down from the attic towards her brother, standing behind him as she often did. She thought about tapping him on the shoulder, but felt that would startle her older brother, so she simply greeted him "Hey Lincoln."

Despite her intentions, the young man still jumped in the air with a loud "GAAAH!" as he often did. He turned towards her, calming slightly when he saw his Gothic sister. "Lucy, please, don't do that."

"I can't help if this is how I move through this plane of existence."

Lincoln thought about reprimanding her again, but decided against it. He simply gave her a weak yet brotherly smile, and patted her on the head. "Yeah, I guess you can't," he said fondly, his fingers raking through her dark hair. Lucy's cheeks reddened slightly from embarrassment at this public display of affection, and almost ordered him to stop, before glancing around the hallway. No one else was around them (and by that she meant no one else was around to mock them) so… maybe she could enjoy his touch for a few more seconds.

Alas, the young man removed his hand, and put them in his pockets. "So, what did you need from me?"

Lucy hummed slightly as she tried to recall the purpose of her sneaking up on her brother, before she remembered exactly why. "Lincoln, I need your help with a poem."

"Sure thing, Luce. Do you need me to come up with a rhyme for something?"

"Yes. Can you rhyme something with the word _tenebrous_?"

"Easy," he said with a snap of his fingers, "how about generous?"

"I need something less… positive…"

"Ungenerous?" he offered her with a weak grin. Lucy mulled it over for a second, before lightly smiling at her older sibling. "Yes, it works. Thanks Lincoln," she breathed in her usual monotone. Lincoln seemed a little bothered by her lack of enthusiasm, but remembered who exactly he was dealing with. He smiled and chuckled faintly, before responding with "You're welcome, Lucy." He pointed towards the downstairs with his thumb, saying to Lucy "You know, the rest of us are downstairs, getting ready to watch the Dream Boat marathon. You wanna watch with us?"

"Actually, I was going to go back upstairs to keep writing…"

"Come on, Luce," he begged her, "You're always spending time alone, just… writing poems and diary logs and some honestly disturbing stories…"

Lucy took that as a compliment.

"… You should spend some more time with your family. We'd love to have you around more," he finished weakly, hoping he didn't sound too desperate. He knew that, when it came to loners, it was a bad idea to prod and poke them, but his desire to spend some quality time with one of his sisters overrode that.

Lucy, for her part, considered what her brother was saying. It was true, what he was saying. She did spend a lot of her time… by herself, in attics, ducts and her room when her sporty roommate wasn't around to distract. All her time, spend in the nose of a book, either reading the words on its pages or writing her own words on them. She would be lying to herself if she said she didn't at least appreciate the time she spent with her siblings; Lori on her phone talking to Bobby, Leni with small pins trying to sew up clothing, Luna playing air guitar with whatever loud music she was playing in her earphones, Luan punning it up until they begged her to stop, Lynn running from one side of the room to the other as she threw a football back and forth between herself, Lana and Lola bickering over something minor as they always did, Lisa trying to freestyle a rap about the periodic table, and Lily giggling and running around to avoid whichever misfortunate sibling was tasked to put a diaper on her…

And, of course, her only brother Lincoln, smiling as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and drew her closer.

Though she would never say it to anyone, the scene she just imagined sounded like Hell (which to everyone else would mean it sounded like Heaven).

The young poet looked back up to the attic, thinking about her notebook of poems. She thought about the poem she was working on now, and how important it was to her. But as she looked back to her brother, awaiting her answer, she simply smiled and decided to take an off day.

"Let's go, Lincoln. I'd like to see a little more of Bram."

"And I'd like to see more of my family being together," Lincoln said with a small smirk, before Lucy turned and pointed at Lisa's door. "Shouldn't we tell those three to come down with us?"

The boy's smirk grew wider and slightly more mischievous. "Let's take our good places on the couch first. _Then_ we can call the three of them over…"

* * *

"I still think Bronson got the raw end of the deal," Lori complained at the end of the episode, as the credits began to roll and the Louds stood up from their seats and cushions to go upstairs, "He didn't even get an appearance this time."

"Whatever you say. As long as my main Blaine still has a chance, I'm good," Lynn said as she stretched slightly, before looking to her Gothic roommate, "Alright, Luce. I'm going to be heading to bed now. Don't make too much noise when you come in, okay?"

"I think you're forgetting which of us is the noisy one," Lucy shot back, with her older sister shrugging it off. "Just makes me a real, genuine Loud," Lynn responded with pride as she slammed a fist to her heart.

For a split second, all of the older sisters tensed up, including Lynn herself, whose facial expression went from a look of pride and glee to one of shock and guilt. She quickly looked towards the ground and muttered a quick and shaky, "Sorry. Goodnight" to a confused Lucy before she rushed away from the rest of her siblings and up the stairs, out of sight. And perhaps Lucy was imagining it, but she could've sworn that Lori and Luna were glaring at the jock as she speeded away.

The moment of tension seemed to pass, as Lori swallowed and put on a calmer expressions. "Well, you should all do like Lynn and get to your rooms," she said. Of course, when none of her younger siblings got up to leave, a look of annoyance and anger crossed her face as she barked out "Did I stutter? GO!"

Everyone scrambled, rushing as they went up the stairs. Lynn was the most competitive of them, but that didn't stop everyone else from trying out small games and competitions. As she ran up the stairs alongside her sisters and brother, even Lucy got involved in the sport of it, grabbing Luan by the ponytail enough to pass her, but being slowed down by Lisa wrapping her small hand around her foot. It was all in vain, as Luna leaped to the top of the flight of stairs, and looked down at her siblings with victorious glee. "Call me Rush, because I have One Little Victory," she said as she stuck her tongue out at the rest of the Louds, still fighting on the stairs. Eventually, more and more of them made their way to the second floor, and they all turned back and yelled, in unison, "Goodnight, Mom and Dad!"

"Goodnight, kids!" Lynn Sr. yelled back at them.

"Sleep well, all of you!" Rita added, as the siblings all turned and headed off to their rooms to get changed for bed.

"Hey, what happened to the vase?" Lucy heard Lola ask Lana behind her, and the stoic girl simply smiled as she imagined what her twin was going to answer. Regardless, it didn't concern her. What did concern her was when she opened the door to her room, and her roommate stopped throwing her tennis ball at the wall to look at her, her eyes wide with… sorrow, for some reason.

"Hey Luce," she said softly, "You remember that thing I said downstairs?"

Lucy nodded, wondering why Lynn was bringing that up. The jock girl swallowed, before she continued with "I-I didn't mean what I said. You're a Loud… no matter what anyone says…"

Despite Lucy's penchant for poetry and writing, words seemed to completely fail her at that moment. She didn't let it show on her face, putting on her usual expression of deadpan disinterest, but the eight year old girl was completely bewildered by Lynn's words. Since when did Lynn apologize for teasing her? She teased everyone, and never said sorry for it. And come to think of it, weren't all of her older sisters reacting in a bizarre and confusing way, after that little crack Lynn made? Lucy had no idea what to make of her sisters' off behavior, so she simply responded the way Lynn would expect her to; "I know."

That was it. Two simple words, uttered by a confused child. But they seemed to help the older one relax, as Lynn sighed heavily and smiled, before going back to throwing the green ball against the wall.

"Lynn, can you look away?" Lucy said, as Lynn nodded and grabbed her small green ball and covered herself with her blanket. Proper roommate protocol; one sibling wants to change, the other looks away. Lucy took off her black dress and striped socks, replacing them with her usual night attire; a plain white t-shirt and long, striped pants. After she finished putting on her shirt, she took a moment to look at herself in the mirror. If there was one thing that differentiated her from her siblings (aside from the raven hair and the knowledge of the occult) it was her skin. Her skin was far more… pale, than the others, especially when compared to her roommate, whose extensive time in the sun ensured her a more tan complexion than the Goth. But still, Lucy felt it odd that she would be so porcelain, especially when compared to Lincoln and Lisa, who probably spent more of their free time indoors than even she. At least she occasionally wrote in her book under the tree…

Lucy gasped. Her book. She left it in the attic.

"Sigh," she… sighed, as she looked back to Lynn, still covering herself with the blanket, "Lynn, you can look now."

As Lynn peaked her eyes over the blanket, Lucy quickly said, "I left my book in the attic. I'll go get it quickly."

"Uh… sure. You want me to come with?"

"No thanks, Lynn. I can handle myself in a dark attic."

"Bet you would live up there if you could," Lynn scoffed, as Lucy shrugged, somewhat agreeing.

* * *

The dark haired girl peeked into the attic, and threw a small pebble into the darkened part of the house, and listened for any sounds. Now that she knew there were no raccoons, she lifted herself into the top part of the Loud House. If it had been any other sibling, they would no doubt have needed a flashlight to search for whatever they were looking for, but Lucy, even through the long hair that covered her eyes, could see.

Of course, it wasn't perfect vision, as the young girl accidentally kicked a small box on the ground. She bit her lip and cursed internally, bending down to hold her hurt toe. As she did, however, she noticed the contents on the box she had jabbed her toe into. She squinted, but managed to make out that it was a box of…

A box of binders and books, with stray photos and pictures spilling from the pages of the books.

Lucy grimed as she looked down at them with complete disinterest, and was about to stand back up and go over to the corner to find her notebook of poems when one photo caught her eye…

She reached into the box, past a book of Lynn Sr's recipes and an orange baby book that presumably belonged to Lincoln, and grabbed the lone photo. She pulled it out of the box and brought it as close to her eyes as possible.

The picture's subject were three people; a baby and a small toddler playing with each other and a woman laughing in the background. The children Lucy recognized as herself and Lincoln; that white hair and goofy smile was unmistakable. But it was the woman… it was the woman that caused Lucy's skin to crawl as she felt goose bumps emerge on her arms.

The woman… looked almost exactly like an older, adult version of her. Tall, slender, long dark hair flowing from her head, so long it covered one of her eyes. This woman looked… looked exactly like her.

"It's… it's just a trick of the light," Lucy said to herself, a bit unnerved by what she was seeing, "Maybe I do need a light glow."

She took the photo back down to the second floor and stood in the hallway, turning the lights on, much to the groaning annoyance of her siblings. But she barely heard them as she looked over the picture once again. If anything, the light made this older woman look more like her, as Lucy could now see the pale, light skin tone of the woman… matching hers exactly.

Lucy flipped the photo over, trying to get a sense of what was going on, and saw writing on the backside. Her mother's handwriting, as she could recognize. And what she read caused the eight year old a deep sinking feeling in her stomach.

 _Lincoln on a play date with the_

 _neighbor's girl, Lucy._

She had to have read that wrong.

 _Lincoln on a play date with the_

 _neighbor's girl, Lucy._

Maybe there was a word or letter she wasn't seeing.

 _Lincoln on a play date with the_

 _neighbor's girl, Lucy._

Lucy felt a cold sweat break out on her back, as the words finally ingrained themselves into her psyche. She felt a strong sense of nausea, and felt as though the whole room was spinning.

"What is going on here?" she breathed out.

"Lucy, what's wrong?" Lucy looked up and saw Lori standing behind her, suddenly looking concerned. When she saw what the young Goth was holding, her face paled and her eyes widened.

"Oh no," she said in a hushed tone.

"L-Lori, what is this? Who is this woman?" Lucy said, not at all like her usual unemotional self, as she sounded absolutely horrified.

Lori swallowed, and tried to answer. "Lucy… you… you…" she choked on her words, feeling a lump form in her throat before she could answer the young girl, but, unfortunately for the both of them, Lucy was a smart girl. The combination of what she learned from the picture and her sister's reaction spoke more than words ever could. Lori didn't need to tell her anything.

Lucy didn't cry. She didn't scream or yell or faint or question. All she did was slide down against the wall, and watch as her paren… as Mr. and Mrs. Loud rushed up the stairs and slowly come to realize, to their horror, that young Lucy discovered the truth…

* * *

 **A while ago, I wrote a small one-shot about Lucy discovering she was adopted, and Lincoln trying to convince her that she was a part of the family no matter what. Ever since then, the idea has been stuck in my mind as a story worth expanding on, and turning into a multi-chapter fic. I tried to ignore it, as I know some people think the adopted "genre" is oversaturated, especially when it comes to Lincoln and Lucy being adopted, but I couldn't resist. So here's my version of the adopted story/genre.**

 **And don't worry; no one will be born in President Bush's limo.**

 **I hope you enjoyed reading.**


	2. Family

**First off, let me address some things;**

 **1\. This is not a theory. I do not believe that Lucy, or any Loud, is adopted. It's just for the story.**

 **2\. BoukenDutch brought up a good point in the reviews; that Lincoln and Lucy are too far separate age-wise to have both been babies at the same time. That was a mistake on my part. In the picture, Lincoln was a toddler while Lucy was a baby. I went back to the last chapter and made the correction.**

 **3\. Thank you all for the amazing feedback. It really means a lot, seeing how this is one of my favorite stories yet.**

 **Now onto the story;**

* * *

"Sleep well, all of you," Rita called up to her children on the second floor, watching the lights go out and the Loud House go dark, as she grabbed the door to her and her husband's room. She considered closing it and calling it a night, but a strange feeling overcame the woman as she inched the wooden door to a close. She frowned lightly; it was a familiar feeling. Something that felt suspiciously like her maternal instincts. She listened for any unusual sounds; no screams, no shouts, no loud thuds or bangs. Nothing seemed to be wrong with her kids, so Rita simply shrugged it off. Still, she moved her hand off the door, leaving it slightly ajar.

"Honey, did you just get a weird feeling?" she asked her husband as she turned back to him, walking over to her bed. Lynn Sr. glanced up from the van magazine he had been thoroughly invested in and simply shook his head.

"No, I haven't. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was just thinking…"

"Ah. I thought I smelled burning," Lynn Sr. said a guffaw as he snapped his knee, chuckling at yet another one of his world class 'dad jokes.' He glanced up at his wife with a goofy and amused grin, but slowly felt it slide off his face as the blonde woman crossed her arms and glared at him with such strong intensity he felt like ducking under the covers for safety. However, he braved her glare with an apologetic look on his face. "Sorry, honey. What do you think caused this feeling?"

"I don't know," the woman responded, rubbing her chin in thought, "But it felt like a sense of… worry, I'll say. Over the kids."

Lynn nodded his head, suddenly understanding his wife's concerns. One of the things that had made it easy for them to raise such a large family was Rita's powerful maternal instincts, born from the powerful bonds she shared with each of her children. Lynn wouldn't say that she loved them more (no one loved his children more than him) but he sadly had to admit that she was the more 'parental' parent figure in their relationship. All of his kids would turn to her for issues regarding… everything, really. Clothes, relationships, their changing bodies… when they had concerns, they turned to Rita.

Well, except one. While she did come to them with her concerns occasionally, Lucy seemed more fond to bottle it up and only express her worries through writing…

 _But that doesn't make her any less of a daughter to us,_ Lynn stubbornly thought to himself, angry for even _considering_ that young Lucy was any different…

"Honey?" Rita asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. Lynn Sr. shook his head slightly, before admitting; "Sorry, honey, I was just thinking about… er, nothing important. What were you saying?"

Rita didn't answer, for at that moment the house was suddenly brightened by lights upstairs, causing both parents to cringe and cover their eyes. Rita was about to call out to whoever opened the lights, but paused when she heard… breathing. Not normal breathing. Loud breathing.

Like someone was having a panic attack.

The same unpleasant feeling as before returned to Rita, as she gestured towards her husband to get out of their bed. She rushed back towards the door, throwing it open when she heard the voice of her eldest daughter; "Lucy, what's wrong?" and after a small fraction of a second, an almost faint "Oh no."

The next voice came from Lucy, and Rita would always remember her exact words;

"L-Lori, what is this? Who is this woman?"

Her eyes widened in horror, and Rita felt her heart stop and her blood freeze when she heard what Lucy said. _Who is this woman?_ Lucy's ragged breaths and panicked questions meant only one thing;

 _She found the photo._

She felt a violent shove as Lynn Sr, whose face was just as shocked and terrified as his wife's, rushed past her so quickly, without any other concern. Rita found herself quickly following him, racing up the stairs, praying in her mind that Lucy was talking about anyone, _anyone_ , other than her…

When the parents reached the top floor, they found their two daughters; Lori mumbling and stammering her words with a look of pure disbelief written on her face, and Lucy sliding down the wall…

…with the photo in her hands.

The photo of her birth mother.

Lucy may not have cried, but when she saw the eight year old holding that picture, Rita Loud covered her mouth with shaky hands to keep herself from screaming, as two streams of tears rolled down her face.

Lucy turned her head to look at her, and Rita saw everything. Hurt, fear, confusion, anxiety… everything made its way to the young Goth's normally solid face. Rita wanted to make her way towards her, but one step forward was too much, as her knees buckled and her legs shook with such velocity and intensity that Rita sunk to the ground on her knees, watching through tear-stained eyes as her husband got to Lucy first, grabbing her away from the wall and wrapping his arms around the small girl, kissing her on her head as tears began to make their way out of his eyes…

Rita heard scuffling noises behind her, and looked up to see her children all exiting their rooms. Lola's face mask was messy, as if she had been interrupted while applying it. At first, she had an aggressive look on her face, but it slowly melted away when she saw the scene before her. Lynn came out of her room, as white as a ghost, when she saw her father hugging Lucy while in tears, and quickly bolted towards them with a hoarse cry of "LUCY!"

And Lincoln…

Rita felt a trembling finger tap her lightly on her shoulder, and looked around to see her only son eyeing the situation with confusion and fear in his eyes.

"Mom… what's… what's going on?"

* * *

"H-here you go, honey," Rita said nervously as she took the cup of hot chocolate in her shaking hands and placed it on the table before Lucy. She swallowed nervously as she did, hoping the young girl wouldn't react aggressively to being called 'honey' by a woman she now knew wasn't her mother…

The Goth looked down at the small cup before her with absolute disinterest. However, as she glanced up to look at everyone else in the kitchen with her, those being Rita and five older sisters, they all looked at her with concern, and Lynn even imitated the motion for drinking. Reluctantly, Lucy grabbed the mug with her cold hands, and felt a pleasant warmth spread across her fingers as she lifted the piping hot liquid to her mouth and sipped from the cup. As she felt the cocoa take its effect, she smiled in spite of herself. Her nerves were shot, and the drink helped.

The atmosphere though… that would take more than a sip of hot chocolate.

Everyone was tense, and deeply saddened by the events of earlier. Lucy was no stranger to gloomy situations, and could recognize one when she saw one. What else could you call Lori trying to maintain a bravado, Leni weakly smiling at her then turning away, Luna distracting herself from her gaze, Luan not even attempting to make light of the situation, Lynn looking at her with eyes full of guilt, and her mother pouring herself some chocolate, and blowing the steam that emerged from the cup?

They all jumped when they heard someone enter into the kitchen. Lynn Sr. looked at them all, and sighed, smiling a bit of a satisfied smile. "Well, I got everyone else back to bed. Well, almost everyone…"

As if it were on cue, Lincoln entered into the kitchen, shuddering slightly at the gloomy atmosphere that had overtaken the kitchen. He looked over to Lucy first, and gave her a weak yet brotherly smile. The young girl responded with her own, as she was calmed immensely by his presence, a warm tingle making its way through her body, almost like she had drunk the entire hot chocolate in one sip.

"Lincoln, please sit next to your sister," his father ordered, and the young man nodded as he walked over to Lucy, and sat in the chair besides her. He glanced over at her with concern and love in his eyes, still confused by everything going on, but he knew enough to allow his older sibling instincts to flood his mind, as he grabbed Lucy's hand and squeezed it tightly. She looked him in the eyes, and nodded, calming both her and her brother down.

Her brother? Lucy didn't know if she could call him that anymore.

"Dad… what's going on?" Lincoln asked, "Why was everyone in the hallway? Why do you all look so… worried?"

"And what was that picture?" Lucy followed up.

Lynn Sr. sighed loudly, before clearing his throat to answer the two's questions. "Lincoln, Lucy, there's… there's something we've been… hiding, for a while now. It's something your older sisters know…"

Lincoln and Lucy both turned their heads to their five older sisters, who all looked incredibly guilt-wracked and upset.

"… and it's about you, Lucy. We wanted to hide it away for a while, but… we can't do that anymore," he said bemoaningly, "So, Lucy, Lincoln, listen closely, both of you… Lucy is adopted."

They both reacted differently. Lucy had already come to figure that out herself, so she didn't react too strongly to the news. She maintained her normal expression, and didn't even twinge. However, she would be lying to herself if she said that her father admitting the truth didn't give her a sinking, sickened feeling in her stomach…

Lincoln, on the other hand, was the opposite. His face looked stunned, before he grew a weak smile on his face. "Oh… oh, I get it… this is some kind of prank, right? A-a joke? Luan… did you…" he immediately shut up as Luan turned away, and Lori shot him an angry look. Still, denial was overwhelming his mind, and he turned back to his father.

"Dad… you've got to be… Lucy can't be…"

"Lincoln," his father said softly, "Lucy is adopted. It's not a joke, it's… it's the truth."

"No, no, that can't be true," Lincoln said, his eyes widening and his voice starting to rise, "What about all our pictures together? What about Great Grandma Harriet? She looks exactly like her. She has to be related. What about… what about…"

"Lincoln, you're hurting me," he heard Lucy say besides him. He looked down, and realized that he had been squeezing her hand tighter and tighter the whole time, and now it even seemed to go blue. He let go in shock, casting an apologetic look her way, before quieting down for his father to answer.

"Lincoln, I know this is hard for you to accept or understand. It was the same way when we first told Junior, but… let me answer your question about your Great Grandma," he paused, before taking a deep breath to continue, "Lucy isn't completely detached from our family tree. You see… my grandmother Harriet had a sister. And it's from her sister that Lucy's mother comes from. Our neighbor and… close friend, Clara."

 _Clara… she's the woman from the picture…_ Lucy thought.

 _And she's my mother…_

Lucy looked over at Rita, who noticed the young girl glancing and gave her the warmest smile she could muster.

 _But what about Mom? Isn't… isn't she my mother?_

"It's funny. We didn't even know she was descended from Harriet's sister when they first came around. But… we quickly became close friends," Lynn Sr. said with a fond smile, "In fact, we used to visit them so often and they visited us so often that you kids became friends. If I recall, baby Lucy took a special interest in Lincoln. She used to always waddle after him, wherever he went," he said with a fond chuckle. Lincoln glanced over his shoulder to Lucy, and the younger girl felt her face start steaming slightly…

"So why is Clar… my mother?" Lucy asked slowly. The words 'my mother' applying to anyone other than Rita, the mother she had known her entire life, were rough and unwelcome on her tongue. And out of the corner of her eye, she could see Rita wipe small tears anyway from her eyes, and guilt was added to the mix of unpleasant emotions she was feeling.

"Lucy, you've had a long rough day. I think it'll be better if you…"

"Where is my mother?" Lucy repeated.

"Not now, Lucy. We don't want to overwhelm you…"

"Where… is… my… MOTHER?!" she screamed.

"I SAID NOT NOW," Lynn Sr. roared back in uncharacteristic fury. However, his eyes widened in horror when he saw the young girl flinch, and his expression swiftly went from one of anger to one of guilt and remorse. "Lucy… I…" he said softly, as he began to reach his arm out towards her, but Lucy had had enough. She got up with catlike agility, and rushed past Lynn Sr. out of the room, and her family heard her footsteps stomping up the stairs. Lynn Sr. looked back at his family and breathed a stressed "I didn't… I didn't mean to…"

"I'll go get her," Lincoln said, getting up from his chair…

"Wait, Lincoln, you've had to absorb a lot today…" Lori said, "You should…"

"Not as much as Lucy," he said solemnly, "I'll make sure she's OK, and try to bring her back down here."

The others were overwhelmed at that point, so only Lynn Sr. could respond with a short nod, and watch as his son disappeared to chase after Lucy.

* * *

Lucy held tightly onto the photo of the woman she now knew was her mother, as she huddled up as close as she could to the walls of her room's corners, as far from the entry as possible. She didn't need anyone right now, and all she wanted was to be alone, even more than she usually did.

The girl stared down at the woman before her, and any attempt she made to convince herself that this woman… Clara… wasn't her true birth mother was quickly shot down by another glance at the photo. She looked too much like her. The paleness of her skin… the darkest of her long hair… the way she looked at her baby, a way only a mother could…

 _If this is my mother, my real mother… then who where is she? Why is she not here now? Why am I with… other people…_

Suddenly, her thoughts shifted away from the family she never knew to the family she did know. Her mother and father, the two she had always called Mother and Father… could she still call them that? Were they… really her parents?

And what about her ten siblings? Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan, Lynn, Lincoln, Lana, Lola, Lisa, Lily… how could she still call them brother and sisters when she wasn't the same? And they knew… some of them did, at any rate. How long did they know, and how long did they keep it from her? And… why?

Her mind focused on her roommate Lynn, specifically, as she began to eye the sporty girl's bed. Despite the girl's faults, she was still one of her closest siblings, and was the one that immediately sprung to her mind when she thought of her best friend in the family, despite their vastly different interests. All those nights they spent talking together… all those times she had cheered her sister on from the stands of whatever stadium they were at… all those times her sister had been supporting her for her poetry… It was a painful stab of betrayal, from a sister whom she never thought would've been able to lie to her…

"Lucy?" she heard a soft male voice call out her name, and looked up from the photo to see Lincoln peering into through the door to her room. At first, she was confused as to why he did not see her, but then she recalled that his eyes may not have been as used to the darkness as hers. She opened her mouth, but hesitated to answer. She… she felt like she needed to be alone… especially from the family that lied to her…

 _But he didn't know… he can help you…_

Before she could stop herself, she had already responded "I'm here." And despite her emotional state, her voice was as deadpan and monotone as ever.

Maybe she was just tired.

Lincoln made his way over to the corner where he heard the sound, bumping against a darkly colored ottoman and cringing as it scraped across the floor at such a loud pitch. However, he carried on forward, and eventually reached Lucy. He looked down at her with despondent eyes, in pain of seeing one of his sisters in trouble, as he bent down on one knee before her, looking her face to face.

"Hey Lucy. Are you… are you okay?" he asked.

"Sigh. I… I don't know…" she admitted to him, "I woke up today, a member of the Loud family. Now, I find out…"

"Lucy, you're still a member of our family," Lincoln said as he stretched his hand towards her, placing it gently on her frail shoulder, "It doesn't matter that you're… adopted. You're still my sister."

"If it didn't matter, why did they hide it?" Lucy asked him.

"Because… I think… because they were worried about you."

"What do you mean?"

"Well… you see…" Lincoln said as he started scratching the back of his neck uncomfortably with his other hand, "They might've thought that you would… start thinking that you weren't one of us. That you wouldn't consider yourself a Loud."

He saw the girl squirm a bit uncomfortably, and he gripped both of her shoulders with both of his hands. "But you are Lucy. You are one of us. You may have been born outside, but you were raised with us. Mom and Dad have never called you anything other than their daughter. All of our sisters have only ever called you a sister. And I… I will always think of you as my younger sister."

For a moment, the Goth girl said nothing.

"Sigh," she started as she always did, "Lincoln, can you…"

He inched closer to her, to listen to her request.

"… just leave me alone? I need to be alone right now."

His heart crashed down, as the young man let out a soft little "Oh," as his sister pushed his hands off of her, and he slowly backed away.

"Lucy, please, I want to…"

"Just go… I need to think…" she hissed at him, and Lincoln sadly nodded and backed away from Lucy, getting up on his feet and walking away from her, to leave her alone in the attic. And as she watched him slowly walk away, she felt two conflicting feelings arise in her.

One side was glad he left her alone to think.

The other wanted to call him back and apologize, and beg him to stay with her.

"He doesn't have to," she muttered to herself, "After all, he's not my real brother…"

* * *

Lincoln descended the stairs miserably and made his way back to the kitchen, where his parents and older sisters had all remained, waiting for him to bring back Lucy. When they saw the eight year old girl was not with him, they all seemed more crestfallen. "You couldn't convince her to listen to us, could you?" Lori said, and Lincoln shook his head.

"Alright, my turn," said Lynn abrasively, as she started towards the doorway, "If she won't listen to Lincoln, she'll listen to her roommate…"

"I don't think she will, Lynn," Lincoln told her. Lynn gave him a questioning look. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I don't think… she wants to talk to anyone, right now."

Rita covered her eyes again, and began to sob lightly, her body trembling and shaking as she did. "I knew this would happen if she found out," she choked out, as Leni walked over to her and hugged her mother comfortingly.

"I think… I think it's best we don't tell her about her parents right now," Lynn Sr. stated, "She might become more upset than she already is."

"What… what happened to her parents?" Lincoln asked.

Lynn swallowed, and took a calming breath before addressing his son. "Lucy's parents… her _birth_ parents," he said, inflexibly correcting himself, "were some of the most wonderful people we ever knew, and they loved their daughter with all from the day she was born to…" he paused, struggling to get the words out, but Lincoln's mind had already filled the gap…

"… to the day they died."

"L-Lucy's parents are…"

"They had left her with us, on that day. They needed to be out of town for a while, I don't remember or care why, and they had left Lucy with us. We… we expected them to come back after the weekend, but they never did. Then, a few days later, while Lucy and Junior were playing ball together, we heard a knock at the door. Lori answered, and called us over. And that's when… we found out that Clara and Adam had been… in an accident," he finished solemnly.

"Lucy's parents are… dead…" Lincoln repeated, his mind still in shock of this new discovery.

"I'll… I'll be sure to tell her later," Lynn Sr. said, dreading the moment where he would have to, "But not now. Finding out she was adopted… the way she found out… and then letting her know that her family is dead. That would be too much…"

"Her family isn't dead," Lynn Jr. growled suddenly, as everyone in the kitchen looked at her. She glanced around aggressively, with tears in her eyes, "Her family is right here. I don't care if she's adopted or not. She's my sister, no matter whose tube she slid out of," she said angrily, as if she was begging someone to disagree with her.

"She's right, dudes," Luna said in support of her athletic sister, "We shouldn't be sitting around talking to ourselves. There's a little girl upstairs whose alone, scared and… might start thinking some stuff…"

"But she said she didn't want to talk to anyone…" Lincoln said.

"And alcoholics say they can quit whenever they want. Doesn't mean we should listen to them," Lori shot back, "Luna's right. She needs her family right now. Because that's what we are… her family."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Lynn Jr. looked around at the approving faces and nods, before rushing out of the kitchen with her athletic speed, up the staircase and towards her and Lucy's room. She knew she may have messed up with Lucy before, but now was the time to set things right with her Gothic roommate. Lynn grabbed the doorknob to her room and pushed it, walking in at the same time…

… however, the door didn't move, and Lynn banged against the doorway. "What the?" she muttered as she shook the handle, again and again, twisting and turning it in all directions.

Locked. The door was locked.

"Uh, Luce? It's me, Lynn. Can you open the door?" Lynn called to her roommate.

No response.

"L-Luce? Lucy? Come on, d-don't play games with me," Lynn said with a nervous laugh, as she knocked on the door with her knuckles.

No response.

"Lucy? Come on, Lucy. Open the door. It's me, Lynn," Lynn said as she let go of the doorknob and started pounding the door with her fists, confused and wondering if somehow, Lucy couldn't hear her…

But Lucy could hear her. But she made no effort to get up from the bed she was sprawled over. And the reason was quite simple;

After she had chased away Lincoln, Lucy began to feel twinges of guilt, and decided to hear her family out again. Perhaps she was exaggerating, and that her life could still be the same, even if she was adopted. So she made her way out of her room and down the stairs, as quietly as she has always done. But it was that quietness that lead to her inadvertently sneaking up on her family talking.

And then she heard.

She heard the fate of her birth parents.

But before she could hear Lynn Jr. say her part, she had rushed away and locked the door to her room, throwing herself onto her mattress and grabbing one of the many darkly colored cushions that littered her room for comfort. As she listened to Lynn bang and call out for her outside, Lucy simply hugged her pillow closer and buried her face in it. Her tiny body began to shake as everything that had happened today finally caught up to her, and, out of sadness and exhaustion... Lucy now felt it was okay to cry.

* * *

 **If you thought this chapter got a little too dark, don't worry. It gets better next time, I can promise that much.**


	3. Solitary

**I really feel bad for what I'm doing to Lucy… but I'd like to think that it'll all be worth it in the end. This is a Hurt/Comfort thing (even though I didn't mark it as such)**

 **But this chapter... remember how I said last time that I promise things would get better for Lucy this time around? Yeah... about that...**

* * *

The morning could not come sooner to the residents of the Loud House.

While the younger siblings all awoke with very few cares in the world, save for a slight curiosity about the noises and events of last night, the older members of the family had all been befallen by fatigue, tire, sadness, worry and a whole swarm of other unpleasant feelings. The late hours of their sleep were the least of their concern. No, what affected them more was the state of the young girl who had just discovered that she was adopted, now holed up in her room, not even interacting with those outside. Her roommate, her eldest sister, her mother and father… none of their efforts to communicate with Lucy even worked.

With nothing left to do, they all retired to their rooms, to sleep and wait for a better solution to come their way. Lynn bunked with her brother as she often did when she wasn't allowed into her room, and the two slept fitfully, their minds too worried about their younger sister to allow them peaceful sleep.

How fitful was their sleep? Well, the fact that Lincoln was awoken by his sleeping sister's foot in his stomach is a good indication.

"Argh," the boy groaned, as he clutched his pained stomach. He opened his eyes slowly, moving one of his hands away from the spot he had been kicked in towards his eyes, wiping away the traces of sleep. The first thing he saw was Lynn, a long wet trail of drool going down her face from her mouth, and her leg kicking and spasming, almost like a dog. She was clearly uncomfortable.

"Lynn, wake up," Lincoln muttered softly, reaching over to shake his jock sister's shoulder. When Lynn didn't awaken, he gritted his teeth in slight annoyance and shook her more forcefully. "LYNN, WAKE UP!"

"Huh, wha… I'm up, I'm up…" she said drowsily, slapping her brother's hands away, as she slowly arose from her sleep. Lynn glanced down at the blanket, slightly wet with drool, as she slowly wiped the saliva from her face. She looked back at her brother and muttered a quick "Morning, Linc."

"Good morning, Lynn. At least it would be, if you didn't kick me awake."

"Pansy," she quickly growled, as she turned away from him and threw the blanket off of herself and got out of bed. Lincoln was prepared to shoot back with an insult of his own, but he immediately paused for a second and realized what his sister had said.

"Um, Lynn?"

"What?"

"Usually if I said that you kicked me awake in your sleep, you'd grin and say something a bit snarky."

"I'm not that two dimensional. I have other things on my mind besides you, Lincoln."

"Is… is this about Lucy?"

The tomboy paused in shock, and started thinking up of a convenient excuse, before answering with "No. I'm just… tired, that's all. What do you want me to say?"

Lincoln frowned. He had spent his entire life with Lynn, and over the course of the years he had grown to learn a few things about her. One of the most important; she cared about all of her siblings, but Lucy held a special place in her heart. The sentiment went three-ways; as much as the middle children loved their entire family, they couldn't deny that they were closest to each other, and that meant that when one was hurting, the other two were as well. Add this to the fact that Lynn was the only three of said middle children that was aware of Lucy's status, which meant that in addition to the shock and distress they were all feeling, she had the extra burden of guilt on her shoulders.

Which tied into the second thing Lincoln knew about his sister Lynn; she was terrible at expressing her emotions.

With a sigh, he realized that he would have to try to get her to talk about it a little. "Lynn, if you want to talk about it…"

"I don't," she tried to shut him down immediately, as she grabbed the doorknob to Lincoln's small room, ready to leave.

"Then can I talk to you about it?" he asked her.

Lynn turned her head around, loosening her grip on the handle. She eyed her brother with a mix of curiosity and… what could have looked like relief? After what seemed like an eternity, she finally sighed. "Sure. Fine."

Lincoln smiled gently at her, a little gratitude in his eyes, before his expression steeled slightly. "Lynn, why did you all hide it from us? Why did you hide it from her?"

Lynn shuddered at the heavy question, before jabbing her thumb towards the doorway. "Look down the hall, Lincoln, at my locked room. That's why I hid it. That's why we all did. We were… afraid she would react that way. That she would freak out. And guess what? She did," she took a small breath to calm herself down, "When we… got Lucy, after her parents di… passed away, Mom and Dad just thought that it would be better if she never knew. She could live happier, not knowing the truth. I didn't get a say in the matter, cause I was too young. I just grew up with her, knowing the truth but never telling her. I… I slept in the same room as her, and all this time, I was… just lying to her…" Lynn said, as she felt tears start forming at her eyes. She shut her eyes tight, as if that would send them back, but rather than go back, they went out like powerful waterfalls. Lynn sniffled loudly, and without meaning to, fell to the floor on her knees, covering her eyes and face with hands, as she kept choking and sniffling, water trailing down her entire face.

"I'm a terrible sister," she said, the anguish in her tone really affecting her brother, "I slept besides her all this time… just lying through my teeth. And it was all FOR NOTHING!" she screamed, as she rolled her hand into a fist and punched the ground angrily, the tears flowed stronger than ever when the physical pain mingled with the emotional…

She raised her fist into the air again, ready to slam it back down onto the floor in frustration, before she felt someone roughly grab her arm to stop her. She looked to see Lincoln, small pools of tears forming in his eyes, and without speaking, the two wrapped their arms around each other. Lincoln rubbed his sister's back gently, as the guilt-ridden tomboy sobbing into his shoulder.

"Lynn, you're not a terrible sister. You just wanted Lucy to feel like… to feel like she belonged. As much as I hate to admit it, I can understand why you all kept her in the dark about it."

Lynn sniffled a bit noisily. "She does belong with us. Why doesn't she… why doesn't she get that, Lincoln?"

The two looked each other in their tear-ridden eyes. Lincoln swallowed, thinking very carefully about an answer, before he gave Lynn a warm, familial smile.

"Maybe… maybe she needs us to help her get it. All of us, getting together to prove to her how much she means to us, and how she is one of us. Screw what the DNA tests say. Lucy is as Loud as the rest of us."

Lynn chuckled softly, wiping her eyes from whatever water remained. "She's probably our quietest sister, though," she joked weakly.

Lincoln beamed happily. Lynn was back.

* * *

The duo made their way down the hallway, towards the stairs. Lincoln was thinking about what he was going to say to the rest of his siblings in regards to the Lucy issue. He glanced up at the door to Lynn and Lucy's room, giving a silent yet pained sigh when he saw it was still closed and locked, unwelcoming to any outsiders. Lynn also eyed the room with sorrow, and the two felt a small shudder run down their nervous systems as they passed by. Lynn turned around suddenly, likely intending to knock on the door, but her brother stopped her.

"It would be better to get everyone else first," he said to her, and Lynn reluctantly accepted.

"What do you mean by everyone else, though? Is it just our older sisters, or… do you think we should tell the rest of them as well?" Lynn asked him.

The boy scratched his chin in thought; Should he tell them? Now that Lucy knew the truth about her blood family, should Lisa and the twins be brought into the know? Lincoln had to admit he was a bit nervous about them finding out; while he knew they would never stop loving Lucy, his worries came from the idea that they would say something that could be taken the wrong way. The twins had a tendency to blurt out the wrong thing, and Lisa was famously blunt.

 _I think I'll bring it up to Mom and Dad, and let them decide…_

Speaking of their younger sisters…

"Hey Lincoln, Lynn. What was with all that noise last night? Did Dad yell about something, or was that just like a bad dream I was having?" Lana asked at the bottom of the stairs. The two froze up, trying to come up with a good answer, before their eldest sister thankfully showed up.

"Lana, go into the kitchen and eat your breakfast. Now!" Lori ordered the young handy girl, even stamping her foot and pointing towards the kitchen for drive the point home. Lana gave a little whimper, before she turned away from Lori and went to find something to eat. Lori sighed and rubbed her eyes in frustration, before turning to Lincoln and Lynn. "Same thing goes for you two," she said, though in a much softer tone.

"Lori… what are we going to do about Lucy? And are we going to tell everyone else?" Lincoln asked her.

"I thought about asking Mom and Dad about telling Lisa and the twins, but… I don't think they are really in the best state right now," she said uncomfortably, looking back to their parent's room, and it was only then that Lincoln heard the sound of a woman quietly sobbing, and felt a sinking feeling in his chest when he realized just how bad his parents must have been suffering through the whole thing.

"I… I think I'm going to try and talk to them," he said, rushing down the stairs past Lynn, but was quickly blocked by Lori sticking her hand in his way. "Lori, let me through."

"Look, Mom is literally going through a lot right now…"

"And you don't think that she would like for one of her children to talk to her about it?" Lincoln quickly responded with, leaving his eldest sister shocked and tongue-tied.

"Well… I mean… I thought that…"

"I'm going to talk to Mom now," Lincoln said, ducking under her stretched arm and towards their parents room, pleased to see that Lori made no effort to stop him again. He found the door slightly open, and pushed it open, glancing inside to look at his parents…

His mother clearly didn't sleep. Her hair was a complete mess, her eyes were red and puffy and her face was largely glistened with tears. She didn't seem to notice Lincoln standing in the doorway, as her attention was completely focused on a small camera in her hands, but his father, who had his arm wrapped around Rita, glanced up when he saw the small shadow of his boy. He smiled weakly at his son, before croaking a hoarse "Good morning, sport."

Rita Loud looked up from the device, seeing her son standing in the doorway. She broke into a sad yet motherly smile herself. "Good… good morning, honey. I hope Lynn didn't bother you too much," she attempted to joke, but the quivers in her voice revealed it all.

"She was fine, Mom," Lincoln said gently as he approached the matriarch and wrapped his arms around her comfortingly. At first, Rita looked surprised, but accepted her son's embrace by hugging him back. Lincoln felt the camera she was holding dig into his back, but he chose to not say anything about it, tolerating the mild discomfort for her sake.

Lynn Sr. smiled at the two of them, before standing up from the bed. "Well, I'll leave you two alone," he said, "I think I need to go talk to the girls."

"Um, Dad. Are you going to… tell Lana and Lola and Lisa?"

Lynn Sr. looked away from his son thoughtfully, pursing his lips as he tried to decide. "I think that… now that Lucy knows…"

Lincoln felt a tremor go through his mother's body, and hugged the woman a bit tighter.

"… I don't see why we should hide it from them anymore. They're smart girls, and they love their sister. Maybe... maybe they can somehow help a little," Lynn Sr. concluded. He realized he may have not been making the right choice and was perhaps being a bit optimistic, but in the end, there was nothing he could do but sigh and hope for the best.

He left the room towards his daughters, leaving Rita and her son alone. Lincoln slowly withdrew from his mother's embrace, and looked towards the small device in her hand. He pointed at it and asked "Why do you have that, Mom?"

The woman glanced at her hand, almost as if she forgot what she was holding. She swallowed a bit, before answering her son's question.

"This camera, Lincoln, holds a lot of our pictures and memories of… Lucy's birth family. There are a lot of our early memories here with them," she said, before gazing up at Lincoln and smiling slightly, "Do you want to… see some?"

Lincoln smiled back at his mother. "Sure, Mom. I'd love to see some pictures."

The boy sat down next to his mother at the edge of the mattress, and Rita extended her hand towards him so he could see better. She began to scroll through the images, and Lincoln saw many images flash before his eyes. His parents standing with her parents, Lincoln in their arms while Clara's body clearly indicated pregnancy.

An image of Clara talking to a younger Leni, while a younger Lori stood behind her facepalming. Lincoln smiled in spite of himself; he could guess that Leni had said something… Leni.

But as one picture came up, Rita moved her finger from the buttons on the device, and set it aside for Lincoln to observe. It was another picture of him and Lucy, both years younger. The photo showed toddler Lincoln with a wide, toothy smile on his face as the dark haired baby crawled towards him, and even though the baby held a deadpan expression on her face, Lincoln could tell from years of observing his little sister's facial expressions that she was clearly happy to see him.

"You know, I think when she was a baby, Lucy liked you the most," Rita suddenly said.

"How so?"

"Well, she took a liking to you, I suppose. I remember so many times when Lori or Leni would try to play with her, and she would just look over at you," she chuckled fondly at the memory, "I remember how she was always interested in your hair. She would touch it all the time, even tug at it, which made you a little angry sometimes."

"Well, I was a kid. What do you expect?" he defended himself with, and his mother playfully tugged his white hair.

"But one thing I'll always remember is how much you two loved each other. You were… like brother and sister," she said, before smiling sweetly, "That may have inspired us to adopt her when her parents… passed on. We knew that you, and all of your wonderful sisters, would make her feel at home," she put the camera down behind her on the bed and turned her head to look at her son, in his eyes.

"Lincoln, I know this is a lot to ask of an eleven year old boy, but… please, Lincoln, help her. Right now she's scared and confused and worried. I can feel it. A mother knows," she said, placing a hand on her son's shoulder, "But please, Lincoln, you and your sisters have to remind her that she's family. Lucy is as dear to me as Luna and Lily. Promise me you'll be with her on this, every step of the way."

Lincoln was surprised that he didn't hesitate to answer her heavy request with "I promise, Mom."

The matriarch's eyes sparkled with water, and she drew the boy in for another hug. "Thank you," she whispered into his ear, and Lincoln could only smile as he returned the warm embrace.

* * *

"Sigh," the young Goth muttered as she lifted her head off of her mattress, awakening from her sleep. She swallowed and immediately regretted it, the dryness of her mouth and taste on her tongue deeply disgusting her. She felt her hair was messy and disorderly, and her sleep had been very uncomfortable, with its mix of uncomfortable sleeping positions and a weird nightmare she had…

In her dream, Lucy recalled, she had gone into the attic to retrieve her belongings, and had come across a picture of a woman that looked suspiciously like her. Then her parents told her and her brother that she was adopted, and apparently Lori, Leni, Luna, Luan and Lynn already knew, and that her real parents were de... dead. Lucy shuddered coldly. She was used to horror and darkness, but this one truly unnerved her.

She looked over to her sister's side of the room, ready to open up about her disturbing visions, when she saw Lynn was not in her bed.

 _That's strange. Lynn never wakes up before me. Unless…_

Then she remembered how, towards the end of the dream, her roommate was banging on her door, begging desperately, to the point of tears, for Lucy to let her in, after she had locked the door to be alone. Lucy felt a cold sweat go down her back as she looked towards the keyhole of her door.

A key, locking it.

Lucy immediately felt a sense of nausea as she realized that the events of her dream were not a miserable dream. Everything that had happened... was real.

She was adopted.

And alone.

 _Of course, that's my fault,_ she thought as she stared at the floor. Everything seemed like a blur to the eight year old; so many revelations, so many events… nothing made sense. All she wanted was someone, anyone, she could talk to about this. But a mix of frustration at her situation, resentment towards her older sisters for lying to her, and a deep sense of… regret and loathing for the way she behaved last night stopped her from simply opening the door and leaving out to the rest of the house.

That just left her with her thoughts.

One thought in particular.

 _My real parents are dead._

The revelation that her blood family was gone held mixed results. In one hand, there was a tight pain in her chest at the idea of her parents being gone, at the idea of a family she never knew or had. On the other hand…

"I never knew them," she said gutturally, "I never knew them… am I as sad as I should be?"

Her mixed feelings about her true parents only added to her sense of… what could almost be described as self-hatred. She felt truly pained that maybe, just maybe, she wasn't dealing with this right. That she should be crying and sobbing endlessly over her parent's demise. But nothing came to the young girl's emotions, sending out waves of loathing across her body.

 _There is another option, though._

The young girl looked at her tools; the ones she used to peer across the curtain and into the spiritual realms of the afterlife. A darkly colored purple turban and a beautiful crystal ball that she used to divine the words of the spirits.

 _Maybe… could I… talk to them?_

A bright spark of hope burst into Lucy's heart, as she quickly rushed over, clumsily placing the turban on top of her raven-colored hair and placing the crystal ball in front of her. She felt her fingers shaking nervously as she held her fingers to it, the thought of her séance not working only slightly occurring to her.

 _It has to work. My parents would want to talk to me._

With a shaky breath, she said gently, "Oh, s-spirits. If there are any of you present, then let yourselves be known to me."

 _Please Mom and Dad… please…_

The young girl looked at her crystal ball, expecting some sort of glow or light to reveal any specters. Maybe the face of her lost mother would appear. Maybe a voice. Maybe… maybe…

But nothing. There was no response. Lucy felt her own spirit die down, but refused to give up. A part of her needed this, needed to talk to her family. They had to answer. They had to. With that thought pulsing in her mind, she tried again.

"Oh, spirits. If there are any present… then please let me know."

There was, again, an overwhelming lack of response, as Lucy felt her entire body begin to tremble. Her eyes began to sting her, and she curled her toes retreadly, but she gritted her teeth and tried again.

"If there are any spirits, please…"

 _No. My parents have to be here._

"If… Clara or Adam… are here… then let your chi... descendant know," Lucy said chokingly, as the tears started to roll down her pale face, the reality beginning to settle in for the supernaturally minded girl.

"Mom and Dad, pl-please…" the small girl begged for a final time, pleading with the universe to give her just one chance to speak to her lost family.

But the spirits of Adam and Clara did not appear before young Lucy. The stubbornness, determination and childish hope that Lucy had felt earlier completely evaporated as her parents refused to make an appearance to their young child.

She pushed the ball away from herself in anger and curled up into a ball, sobbing slightly, her arms covering her knees as she burrowed her face into her legs, feeling them moisten as the tears were absorbed by the soft fabric of her clothes. Her small body shook in little tremors as she choked and teared up, and for the first time in a long time, the normally solitary Lucy wished that she didn't feel so alone…

* * *

 **I know I said this before, but I mean it this time; things are going to finally start getting better for our beloved young Goth next time. For my sake as much as hers. Maybe I'm a little too emotional, but I really had a hard time typing out that last part ;-;**

 **In other news, this chapter did spring an idea I could use for another Lucy story into my head. I might never do it, but I'm starting to think. If you ever see another Lucy story from me, you'll know where it came from.**

 **Anyways, thanks for reading.**


	4. Unity

**There's going to be a lot of fluff in this one, for the whole family. Consider it my apology for making Lucy so depressed last time (That last scene really was hard to type).**

 **And, as they say, the night is darkest just before the dawn.**

* * *

His mother's words had imbued the boy with a new sense of confidence and determination towards helping Lucy, Lincoln found, as he joined his sisters and father in the kitchen. The young snow haired boy felt a new weight of responsibility, as he came to realize how much he could help Lucy.

 _Poor Luce,_ he thought to himself, _I can't imagine what you're feeling, but I know one thing; an older brother should always be there for his younger sister. I should've tried harder before, but… I promise I'll be there for you now._

As he walked through the door, he felt his sight wander to his younger siblings faces, eyeing their facial expressions to see if they had been told already or not. Judging from the apparent shock and surprise on Lola and Lana's faces, his father must have just told them, he grimly noted.

But then he gazed towards his second youngest sister, Lisa, and the emotions on her face surprised him. She didn't look like she had disbelief on her face, but rather a… look of what could have been sadness. The small scientist looked downward, at the floor and her feet, a frown visible on her normally expressionless and apathetic face. For some reason, she seemed to be more upset with the news than the twins. Bur before Lincoln could say anything to her, Lola immediately piped up.

"What about Linky? Did he know?" she asked her father shrilly, pointing her index finger at him.

Lynn Sr. shook his head. "We only told him last night, when Lucy found out by herself."

Lola snorted angrily. "Good. Then I don't have to be angry at Linky," she said, before turning her angry and fiery gaze to the five eldest Loud sisters, "But I'm still mad at all five of you for LYING to me."

"Right, like we were going to tell Queen Tattletale a secret that huge," Lynn Jr. shot back, even sticking her tongue out immaturely for good measure. Lola grit her teeth in anger, preparing a response, but Lincoln decided to step in.

"Don't be angry at them, Lola. They just did what was necessary. No one knew how anyone would react to this, so of course they were nervous about it. I would be too, in their case. I mean, look at Lucy. She found out and now she's miserable."

Lola opened her mouth to say something, but she quickly closed and decided to not say it. Knowing her, Lincoln could assume she was about to say something like; "But Lucy's always miserable. How is it any different now?" In spite of himself, he grew a hopeful smile; it seemed like she understood that she had to have a little tact about this delicate situation.

"But Lucy's always miserable. How is it any different now?" Lana asked, unfortunately not with that same social sense. She did not say it in the mocking way Lola would have, but in a genuinely confused way. Lincoln frowned; he was afraid she would say something wrong by accident.

"Because, Lana, it's a different type of sadness," Lori explained softly to the tomboyish twin, "It's more severe, because everything she knew was wrong and some of the things she discovered may have caused her… a lot of pain," she squirmed a bit uncomfortably in her place, thinking about what kind of mental torture the young Goth must have been under, by herself in that room, thinking about dead parents and lying adopting families…

"I… I get it," Lana said, looking downwardly as well, before immediately perking up again, more hope in her eyes, "But she's still our sister, right? I mean… I know she had a different mom, but it just wouldn't be the same without her, you know?"

"Yes Lana, we do know," Lynn Sr. said with a warm smile aimed at his daughter, "We're all a family because we love each other, and Lucy is no exception."

"Of course not," Lana said, thumping a small fist to her chest, indicating her heart, "Lucy's in here with me, no matter what mommy she came from. She's my scary big sister, and I'm her wrench monkey little one."

Lynn Sr. chuckled at his girl's response, before turning his eyes to Lola. The pageant princess noticed him, and everyone else in the room with her, staring at her, and she immediately looked offended.

"D-do you all think that I wouldn't want her anymore? Lola Loud does NOT abandon her family, no matter what. Lucy is my sister, and any smarty pants, know it all scientist that says otherwise is getting some of their warm coffee thrown into the groin," Lola said angrily, before she turned to her younger sister Lisa and muttered, "I didn't mean you, of course. I was talking about…"

"Yes, yes, I understand, elder sibling," Lisa said half heartedly, waving her hand dismissively. However, she still refused to look up at the remainder of her family members. A look of discomfort and upset feelings overtook her face as Lola spoke, Lincoln noticed, which caused him to ask; "Lisa, is everything alright?"

The brown haired genius glanced up from the ground, but only slightly, so that the pupils of her eyes rose above the frames of her glasses. She sighed as she pushed them closer to her face, looking up at her family. "Family, I have… a bit of a confession to make."

"Wh-what is it, honey?" Lynn Sr. asked.

Lisa took a small breath to prepare herself. "I… I was already slightly aware of our raven haired sister's… unique situation…"

* * *

" _Well, time to check these blood samples. I have to make sure my older familial units, and my singular younger infant sister, are in their tip top condition, health wise," Lisa chirped to herself. She grabbed a large vial rack from her desk, which held twelve small, labelled vials of dark crimson blood. Lisa looked down at all twelve of them and frowned. "Perhaps I should expand these health checkups to our pets as well. I wouldn't want Geo or Walt to be suffering an illness without my knowledge," she said thoughtfully, but ultimately shrugged it off._

" _I'll worry about it later," she decided, placing the container on a small counter next to her scanner machine, with a small bit of a thud. She went over to her machine and pressed a few buttons on a little keyboard that had been built in, letting it warm up for operation. She returned to the vials of her family's blood samples, and carried them all carefully back to the device, and placed them one by one inside the machine, closing the door after she was done._

 _And then she waited._

 _After about an hour or so of waiting, the small ding coming from her machine indicated that its function was done, and Lisa walked back over and hit a small red button on the side. The machine began printing the results on a yellowish paper, and Lisa looked over._

" _Nothing life threatening yet, fortunately," she said to herself, reading the results of the scan, "I would have expected Lana lack of hygienic concerns and proneness to injury to have… wait… whose blood is that?"_

 _The young scientist looked at the name associated with the results._

 _Lucy._

 _Lisa felt a deep sense of confusion as she read and reread her older sister's blood work over and over again. A little sweat broke out on her brow as she struggled to make sense of it. "If… if this is what Lucy's looks like… then… then…"_

* * *

"On that day, I got a glimpse of the truth, but I chose… I chose to ignore it. I tried to convince myself that… the machine was wrong, or that I had made some flaw or error in my analysis of your samples, but… but the truth is that I was just lying to myself. I was… I assume I was frightened by the idea that one of my sisters wasn't related to the rest of us by blood," Lisa said ashamedly, turning her head towards Lola and Lana, "And yet, despite my intellectual advantage over my two elder siblings here…"

"HEY!" they both shouted.

"… these two have shown a greater emotional maturity than I have. They accepted their sister regardless of her origins, something I did not," she said, sighing in disappointment with herself, "I should have kept in mind that… that family is something thicker than blood, but I chose to feign ignorance to cover up my shallowness."

"Lisa…" she heard her eldest sister say calmly, "… no one blames you for that, and you shouldn't be too hard on yourself. Finding out something like that can be… frightening…"

"Thank you, eldest sister, for at least understanding," she said, "But I know now the right way to handle it. The way I should have handled it, and that is how our twin sisters have. With acceptance and a strong familial bond, that should never be overcome by anything," she said, smiling lightly in the direction of Lana and Lola, who both beamed back at their young sister warmly.

"Heh. Lisa said I was smarter than her," Lana said in amusement, and the other family members chuckled softly, Lisa included.

"It was a one time thing. Don't get too used to it," Lisa said jokingly.

"Well, as nice as this all is," Lincoln said, "I think, now that we are all caught up with everything, we know what we need to do. About Lucy."

"She really did lock herself in her room when she found out, huh?" Lana asked. Lincoln nodded sadly. Before he could say anything, he was cut off by Lynn.

"I won't pretend I know what she feels like," she started shakilingly, "but… but I do one thing…" her voice quivered slightly, but Lynn immediately picked herself back up with her usual confidence and bravado, "Lucy is my sister, my roommate and one of my best friends. And… and I hate to think of her sitting in our room alone. She's probably feeling confused, depressed, angry…

 _Betrayed,_ she thought to herself.

"… and I think it's up to us to show her that we care. That she's one of us. That she's Lucy Loud, and we will always consider her Lucy Loud," she ended, almost as if she were pumping up her sport's team. She may have learned the skill from there, of course. She looked across to the faces of her siblings, waiting for one of them to respond.

That one would be Lincoln. "Lynn's right. Right now, we need to find a way to convince Lucy to talk to the rest of us, so we can show her how much we care. If we can think of a way to get her out of her room…"

"No need for that," came a familiar deadpan voice from behind him.

Lincoln froze. At first, his brain registered the tone and inflections of the voice behind him, and immediately matched it up with a face. But disbelief and shock clouded his mind, so even though the young boy was aware of who it was, he wasn't at the same time. He gazed around at his family, staring past him with a wide array of emotions on their faces, and that brought within him a small _snap_ in his mind, as if the two pathways connected.

Lincoln slowly turned around, perhaps afraid that if he moved too fast he would scare her away. He finally turned his head completely towards her, and swallowed deeply.

Her black hair was a mess, tangled and disorderly.

Her face was wet and gleaming, the traces of tears covering them.

Her lips were quivering, unsure of what they were doing.

Her clothes were slightly torn, as if she had struggled slightly.

But it was her nonetheless.

Lucy, his sweet beloved sister Lucy, stood beside him.

And for the first time in his life, he was happy to have her sneak up on him like that.

"H-hey Luce," was the only weak response he could muster with his words, so he decided to take another approach.

He swiftly drew his arms around the raven haired girl, and brought her closer to him in a warm hug. One arm stretched around her back, while the other made its way upward, and Lucy felt her brother's fingers go through her untidy hair, stroking it slowly in a small effort to tidy it up. Slowly, Lincoln felt Lucy's shaking hands go up his body's length, as the young girl returned her brother's embrace. Lincoln gave a brotherly smile as he felt some tension release from Lucy's body.

Soon, they were joined by another sibling. Lynn latched onto her sister, whispering a small "We missed you, Lucy," into her sister's ears. After that, the twins made their way over, followed by Luna, then Leni, then Luan, then Lisa and finally the eldest sister Lori, bringing Lily with her. All of them hugged the Goth girl, making sure that she knew how much they loved her. Lynn Sr. stood on the side, wanting to hug his eight year old daughter, but decided to give the siblings all their chance as he wiped a little tear from his eye.

"I thought… I thought you would lock yourself away forever. Why did you come back to us so soon?" Leni asked, her voice full of relief and concern.

"I… I just… I didn't want to be alone," Lucy admitted weakly, shuddering as she did. She felt the grips on her tighten, as she looked back to her older brother.

"That's… that's the good thing about being a part of a large family," Lincoln told her, sniffing a little in emotion, "You're almost never alone."

Lucy smiled at his words.

 _That's right. I'm part of a big family…_

 _I'm part of a big family…_

* * *

The family found themselves together in the living room, waiting. Lucy's eyes wandered about the room, looking at each one of her siblings. Adopted siblings. It didn't matter now.

Lucy almost began to feel ashamed for her initial reaction to finding out she was adopted. She cringed as she recalled her thoughts of not being a member of this family, that the nine girls were not her sisters, that Lincoln was not her brother. The cold feeling of abandonment rushed through her again, but the memories of her siblings with her warmed her. The memories of each time Lori drove her to where she needed to be, Leni helped her design a morbid outfit, Luna working with her on either rock lyrics or poem stanzas, Luan teaching her how to entertain and attract an audience, Lynn fighting off any bullies that made the mistake of picking on her, Lincoln sharing some of his darker comic books with her, Lana feeding and taking care of her bats, Lola applying black nail polish to her fingers, Lisa debating her on matters of the supernatural and paranormal, and Lily smiling brightly when she saw her... those should've proved to her that one thing, above all else, was true...

That they were family.

The last member of the family walked into the living room, her husband following her. Rita looked towards young Lucy, and her eyes began to moisten at the sight of the disheveled young girl. Without a word between them, Lucy ran over to the matriarch of the house and allowed the older woman to scoop her up in an embrace, lifting her a few inches off the ground in a tight hug.

"Mom... you're squishing me," Lucy quipped lightly, and her mother laughed gently.

"I'm... I'm just glad you still call me 'Mom,' sweetie," she said to the eight year old as she set her down. She ran her fingers through Lucy's hair, trying to straighten out the tangles and tufts of standing hair, but the look on Lucy's face encouraged her to stop.

She straightened herself up, but her eyes never left her little girl. She smiled maternally, feeling nothing but love and appreciation for the small girl before her. She wasn't born from her womb, but according to Rita's heart, she might as well have been. But as much as she would have loved to have simply stood there and admire what that small baby from that photo grew to become, she knew there was a more pressing concern.

"Lucy, honey, you know me and your father love you with all our hearts, right?"

Lucy nodded, which calmed Rita down slightly.

"And you know your sisters and brother have nothing but love for you, as well..."

The two of them glanced back at her siblings, who all nodded in agreement. Even Lily, not understanding much of what was unfolding, still found herself rocking her head up and down in approval. "Sue Sue," she said, pointing at the Goth girl, causing Lucy's mouth to flicker in the direction of a smile.

"And so, honey, with that in mind, we hope you can understand why we... never told you about your birth parents. We just... we just wanted you to be happy, and we were scared and worried you would take it the wrong way. Because Lucy; you are my daughter," Rita said, almost sternly, though Lucy could hear the inflections of motherly love in her tone.

"And you're our sister, Luce," Lori said, "I'll always treasure our time watching VOM together. It's been really fun being there with you, and I'm glad you let me be there with you to watch. But most of all... I'm literally glad I got to be your older sister."

Lori then looked to Leni, who was standing besides her. The second oldest child smiled sweetly at Lucy. "Lucy, I know I'm not a big help when you have problems with your poetry, because I don't know a lot of big words... but you have a good eye for dark colors, and it really made me happy when you came to me asking for help dying Mom's wedding dress."

Rita decided to save that talk for a different time.

"It's always been rocking hanging with you, sis," Luna followed up, "The Loud House wouldn't be the same without your sweet poetry wafting in the air, and I would hate to be in a family without you."

"Sadly, I don't have too many puns and jokes for this occasion, but... I guess you don't mind that too much, do you Spooky?" Luan joked lightly. She stared at Lucy's face, and sighed a breath of relief when she saw the humorless girl grin at her remark.

Then came her roommate. "Lucy... I'm really sorry for... lying to you, this whole time," Lynn said, doing her best to get the right words out, "But believe me, I always considered you my sister. More than a sister. You're one of my best friends. You never laugh at my rituals, you try to make time to play ball with me... and those games have been some of my favorites," Lynn said with a smile.

"I... I really like your bat colony. It's so cool. Almost... almost as cool as you," Lana said, blushing slightly from the admission.

"More like you just like the guano," Lola said, before turning to address the Goth sister, "But for real, as much as I call you 'Duchess of the Dark,' I truthfully admire your style and your sight for clothing. It may not be the best taste, but... it's yours, and that makes it great."

"I consolidate with Lola's viewpoint. We have clashed before in the matters of the natural world and the supernatural world, but you have shown time and time again a high degree of intelligence that I have always admired, many times respected. Your 'taste' in explaining the world is fascinating and, more importantly, my sister's way of seeing things," Lisa said, pushing her glasses closer to her face.

"What they're trying to say... what we're all trying to say, Lucy is... we love you, as our sister. And I can't imagine our home... our lives being the same without you," Lincoln said, giving a warm and brotherly smile to the young Goth.

They all stared at Lucy, awaiting her response. The girl had her face towards the ground, staring as if she was deep in thought. But finally, Lucy looked up, and the family saw something they almost never thought they would see.

Lucy was crying.

But not from sadness. Not from shock or hurt or any upset feeling. The warm smile she wore on her face as two neat trails of tears went down like clear little rivers meant that Lucy was crying from happiness.

"Thank you," she rasped, "I... I love all of you as well."

The emotions proved to much for the matriarch of the Loud House, who promptly hugged her daughter again, the cozy warmth of her arms providing a little comfort for young Lucy. And despite everyone already having a group hug in the kitchen, the Louds felt it was right to have another one in the living room, this time their parents joining them. A cocoon of familial warmth and love covered all thirteen of them, but especially Lucy. Any feeling that she once had about being alone was evaporated by her family's acceptance. By her wonderful, loving family's acceptance of her.

And perhaps, maybe perhaps, her birth parents were there with her. Whether as the ghostly spirits of the departed, or as fond warm memories that would be shared by the older members of the family, Lucy knew they were somehow present...

* * *

 **Lisa's did a little referencing to** _ **Thicker Than Blood**_ **by Flagg1991, which is one of the best adoption stories out there (aside from mine, of course :P).**

 **Well, next time we reach the endpoint. The final chapter. Trust me, what I have coming up next time, with Lucy and Lincoln, is really good. I'm confident when I say it's my favorite chapter of this whole story, and partially the reason why I chose Lucy as the star of this story. I don't know when it's going to come out, but rest assured it is currently my top priority.**

 **Thanks for reading, of course. And Happy Fourth of July.**


	5. Lucy

The Louds would often go their separate ways during the day, each to engage in their own activity and hobby. Lucy was the most notable case of this; she would often make her way to the basement or attic, preparing her pen for poetry. But for a while, she was happy to find herself with her family.

Her family had stubbornly insisted on having a good day with her, something the young Goth was reluctant to do, but the combined pleading looks on her sisters' faces made her smile inside, and so she nodded and allowed them to take her to the park.

Her disdain for sunlight was pushed to the side, as she spent the day listening to Luna's more calm and gentle songs, applying sun block to Lily's face before rolling a small red ball back and forth between the two of them, and having Lynn and Lana fight aggressively over who got to play with her next.

Despite all this, the young girl felt a… nibbling thought at the back of her mind. As though there were something else… something important…

She would dwell on it the entire day, wondering what it was that was so important for her to realize. In fact, the entire car ride home from her fun day at the park, she had her hand glued to her chin, as she thought and thought and thought, the tingling of memory sliding to into her focus, but fading away shortly after…

"Lucy?" she heard from next to her. The Goth looked over her shoulder to spy her brother looking at her kindly, but with slight concern in her eyes. "You alright?"

She quickly nodded. "Sigh. Yes, Lincoln… I'm actually really happy right now," she said, though her facial expression remained as solid as ever. Lincoln chuckled slightly to himself, though he was still glad that he could decipher her true emotions, despite what she showed. She was happy, and that was all that mattered to him.

However, he quickly stopped chuckling, and he looked back to his sister again. His eyes, this time, were wide with worry and concern.

"Lucy, I…" he started, before taking a moment to breathe, "I was… really scared back there."

"B-back where?"

"When you… when you were locked up in your room. I'll be honest, Lucy, I… I was beginning to worry that you didn't want to be a part of our family anymore. I even had a nightmare that night."

"About what?"

"I… I dreamt that you were trying to run away. That while everyone was sleeping, you grabbed a small bag and ran out the front door, and you never even said goodbye. And there I was, watching the whole thing, seeing you disappear into the night but… but I couldn't say anything to stop you…" Lincoln ended on a small choke, feeling his eyes on the verge of watering.

"Lincoln, I…" Lucy paused, to think about what she was going to say. The boy shivered slightly, and Lucy noticed even though he tried to hide it from her. "Lincoln, I'm sorry for scaring you like that… I should stick to jumping at you from behind, huh?" she attempted to joke, but Lincoln seemed too perturbed to register it. Lucy looked down at the floor of the car, slowly twiddling with her thumbs. She then looked back up, and without warning, rested her head on Lincoln's arm.

"L-Lucy, what are you…"

"I'm a little tired from playing with our sisters for the whole day," she said calmly, "I just want to rest for a little while."

Lincoln could've sworn he saw the shadow of a smile on her face. That put the boy more at ease, as he smiled back at her, looking down with tenderness. "I know I was worrying about nothing, Lucy, but still… I just was afraid I'd lose you. We all were. All of our sisters, our parents…"

And then it struck Lucy.

"Lincoln… can I ask you a favor?"

"Um… sure, Luce… what do you…"

"Tonight, when everyone else is asleep, I want you to meet me in the living room. Don't tell anyone, don't let anyone know… I have something to show you. And bring some outdoor clothes."

Lincoln swallowed nervously. "Lucy, we can't sneak out of the house while everyone's in bed…"

"Lincoln… do you love me?"

"Yes, of course I do, so that's why I don't want you to…"

"It's important, Lincoln, please," Lucy begged her brother, and Lincoln could hear the emotion rising in her tone. He inhaled as he thought about it, before finally, and reluctantly, saying "If it's really important… fine. I'll do it."

He felt Lucy snuggle a little closer to him, the warmth of her body chasing away the shivering of his. "Thank you, Lincoln."

Lincoln didn't say anything. He simply smiled fondly, with traces of tiredness in his eyes, as he patted Lucy's dark hair. And for once, she didn't swat his hand away when he did.

* * *

And so, under the cover of darkness, while the other eleven members of the household slept, the two siblings made their way out into the night.

Lincoln, for his part, wondered where his sister was taking him. She had said nothing about her intended destination, and it was a mix of concern for his sister's safety, curiosity about where she intended to take him, and a brotherly instinct to follow the requests of his younger siblings that forced Lincoln to walk behind the dark haired girl, never saying a word to disturb her, yet still fearful in what was clearly out of his element; the young boy had a fear of the dark, and of what might be lurking in the shadows that could endanger him and his younger sister.

Lucy, for her part, did not share the same concerns. She had swam in the darkness from very early on in her life, and the night did not frighten her as much as it did her snowy haired older brother. She walked forward with determination in her steps, for the place she was picturing in her mind's eye was of utmost importance to her. She felt the burning need to be there, and knew she made the right choice in asking her brother to be there with her.

So the two marched on, crossing roads and covering blocks, all without saying a word to each other. What they were about to experience together was more important than words, they both innately knew.

Eventually, Lucy stopped under a small streetlight. She raised her arm in front of her brother, stopping him from going forward, before jamming her hands back into the front pockets of her black hoodie. She nodded in the direction in front of them, and Lincoln joined her by her side, his eyes widening when he recognized their destination.

The cemetery.

"Oh my God," Lincoln whispered softly, "Lucy, is this…"

"Follow me," she said, continuing forward at a faster rate, Lincoln rushing behind her. The two made their way closer to the gateway into the graveyard. Lincoln swallowed in nervousness. "Lucy, I don't think we should be here. And I don't think we can get in…"

He looked over to his side, and noticed the young girl walking alongside the length of the fence, until she reached a grown in, more vegetative part. Lincoln rushed over to her as she pulled back one of the green bushes, revealing a small hole in the fence.

"Some of us… made this hole, in case we ever needed to come here," Lucy explained, before slipping her tiny body through the narrow hole perfectly. Lincoln, being slightly older and taller, attempted to do the same, but struggled slightly, and only made his way in with a few scratches.

He dusted himself off as he stood from the ground, and began following Lucy across row after row of tombs and gravestones. By now, he had realized why they were there. So when Lucy stopped for a second time, he felt his throat dry as he immediately read over the two graves he had stopped in front of.

One grave read Adam. The grave next to it read Clara.

Both had 'Loving Parents' inscribed underneath.

For the child of the two loving parents to read.

"I passed by these graves so many times, as I came wandering by the graveyard, either alone or with friends," Lucy explained to Lincoln, a quiet and solemn tone in her voice, "And one time, I read the words on these two grave stones specifically. When I read the words 'Loving Parents' I was struck... with deep feelings of sorrow and loss. I… I felt bad, for the person who lost their parents, and I was so thankful for having mine."

The pale girl stopped, before looking up towards the sky, perhaps wanting to see her parents up there.

"I… never would have guessed that the person I was feeling sorry for… that the child who lost their parents… was me…" she ended on a hushed whisper. A cold breeze rushed through the graveyard, causing both of the children to shiver, Lincoln wrapping his arms around himself while Lucy dug her fingers deeper into her jacket.

For a while they stood there, neither daring to speak a word to the other. Lincoln in particular was struggling to find the right thing to say. He knew he should be comforting his younger sister, but words failed him. He raked through his mind, watching Lucy staring at the two gravestones forlornly, before deciding that, at the moment, his sister may not need his words.

Lucy jumped up slightly as she felt her brother hug her from behind, his arms reaching across her body, and his head pressing against hers. The cold chilliness of the night suddenly dissipated, replaced by the warm brotherly love of her older brother.

Lucy wrapped her fingers around his arms, in gratitude, and they both turned to each other and looked each other in the eyes. Two smiles emerged onto their faces; smiles that truly valued the family that they had. Lincoln leaned in to his sister's face and kissed her softly on her right cheek, causing the young Goth to grow a red blush.

"Do you really think that's a good idea? Kissing me in front of my dad?" she made an attempt at a joke.

Lincoln laughed. "I don't see why your dad should have a problem with his daughter getting a kiss from her brother."

Lucy smiled happily as well. "I don't see why he would either."

Eventually, Lincoln let his sister go, and watched with a few tears in his eyes as the young girl approached the gravestones of her parents. She lowered herself onto the ground, sitting on her knees, not even paying attention to her black and white striped socks getting stained by the dirt, mud and grass.

She looked at the tombstone of her birth father, then slowly moved her head to look at her mother. She swallowed, in nervous anticipation.

"H-Hey, Mom and Dad," she said, "I-I wish I could have been here sooner, but… but I'm here now. I just want to let you know… that I'm doing well for myself. I've performed poetry before crowds, I've been a leading figure in my club for a while, I'm in a relationship with a hundreds year old vampire… you might know him, his name is Edwin… and…" she paused, glancing over at Lincoln, and smiling at the sight of her brother, "That boy over there is Lincoln. You might recognize him. I live with him and his… my sisters, and they've been the best adoptive family I could've ever asked for."

She smiled as she thought back to every fond, beautiful memory she had with her sisters and brother. Every dinner table fight, every sibling meeting, every crush they helped her with, every hug that they shared…

"I don't have time now," Lucy said with a bit of sorrow, "but I promise… from now on, I will visit you whenever I can. And we can talk more then. I want to tell you so many things… but for now, all I want to say is…"

The Goth stood up from her earthly seat, and approached her parent's tombstones. She kissed them both, the cold stone brushing against her lips.

"I love you, Mom and Dad…"

She stood and walked away slowly, back towards her older brother. Lincoln looked at her with worry. "Lucy, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Lincoln," she said, before grabbing his hand with a soft smile, "Let's go home, before anyone begins to worry."

Lincoln smiled softly in return, and the brother and sister left the cemetery, and made their way home by the soft silvery glow of the moonlight…

* * *

 **And thus it ends. This chapter was supposed to be so much longer, but I realized it would have been better to make it shorter.**

 **Anyways, thank you all so much for reading this short story. It was an idea that came to me out of nowhere, and interested me so much that I had to make this one. I honestly consider this one of my favorite works, and it's the only one where I never had a problem motivating myself to write for (I think I'm growing a fondness for darker stories).**

 **So again, thank you all for letting me give you my version of the adopted story, and to build a little with the relationship between Lincoln and Lucy, a relationship I consider to be one of the closest on the show.**

 **Until next time.**


End file.
